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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016  with  funding  from 
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https://archive.org/details/exhibitionofpainOOcarn_O 


EXHIBITION  OF  PAINTINGS  BY 


Abbott  H.  Thayer 

¥ 


PITTSBURGH 

Carnegie  Institute 


1919 


Copyright , 1919,  by  Carnegie  Institute 


D.  B.  Updike  • The  Merrymount  Press  • Boston 


c Acknowledgment 

The  Department  of  Fine  Arts  makes  grateful 
acknowledgment  to  those  who  have  generously 
lent  paintings  for  exhibition. 

The  names  of  contributors  appear  in  the  text  of 
the  Catalogue. 


Abbott  H.  Thayer 


ABBOTT  H.  THATST^ 

FEW  painters,  who  as  artists  of  ability 
have  a right  to  our  consideration,  have 
written  about  art.  Whistler  is  one  notable 
exception,  since  we  have  as  a rich  heritage 
from  him,  both  paintings  and  prints  of  rare 
beauty,  and  in  his  “Ten  o'clock”  lecture 
an  invaluable  lesson  on  art. 

To  few  artists  of  the  present  day  would 
we  turn  for  a written  expression  on  the  sub- 
je6f  of  art  with  greater  attention  than  to 
Abbott  H.  Thayer.  He  is  recognized,  with 
scarcely  a dissenting  voice,  as  an  artist  of 
unusual  power  and  ability,  possessing  in  his 
art,  as  in  his  character,  supreme  qualities. 
His  important  works  are  chara6ferized  by 
great  dignity  and  refined  qualities  of  color. 
Probably  the  dominating  note,  however,  is 
the  expression  of  character.  He  seems  to 
read  the  innermost  and  profound  meaning 
expressed  by  external  form,  and  then,  by 
the  skillful  useof  forceful  masses,  to  express 
C 5 H 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


this  with  extraordinary  power.  In  addition 
he  has  a fine  appreciation  of  the  beautiful 
harmonies  expressed  by  color;  and  these 
he  renders,  sometimes  in  great  masses  of 
lovely  grey,  sometimes  in  darker  notes, 
with  unusual  tenderness. 

One  of  the  earlier  American  painters  of 
our  present  time,  he,  like  Winslow  Homer, 
has  maintained  his  distinguished  place  in  the 
estimation  of  his  fellow-painters,  and  that 
without  challenge.  For  many  years  he  has 
been  a dominant  figure,  and  he  continues 
to  occupy  his  commanding  position. 

George  de  Forest  Brush,  his  fellow-artist 
and  lifelong  friend,  says  of  his  art:  “Abbott 
Thayer  stands  alone  in  these  times  in  the 
expression  of  the  countenance,  and  his  best 
examples  rank  him  among  the  Masters. 
When  his  work  shall  be  gathered  in  after 
years,  it  will  be  not  only  a satisfaction  to 
the  public,  but  a support  to  all  younger  ar- 
tists of  integrity,  who  are  moved  by  repose 
and  nobility , rather  than  by  the  popular  idea 

CO 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


of  originality.  There  is  nobody,”  he  adds, 
“ whohaspainted  such  touchinglooks. "This 
is  high  praise,  and  the  high  esteem  in  which 
Thayer's  art  is  almost  universally  held  but 
reflects  the  judgment  of  Mr.  Brush  and 
other  artists  who  are  qualified  to  speak. 

Probably  nothing  that  could  be  written 
about  Mr.  Thayer  would  be  as  interesting 
or  as  valuable  as  his  own  expression  of  opin- 
ion touching  art.  His  judgment  is  based  upon 
his  unquestioned  power  as  a painter,  and  is 
the  result  of  a lifetime  of  earnest  study  and 
of  keen  observation. 

We  hear  often  of  this  or  that  influence  as 
helping  or  hindering  the  young  artist:  en- 
couragement or  the  lack  of  it  in  his  youth; 
the  influence  of  the  schools  or  of  the  teach- 
ers; incidents  of  private  life  as  they  may 
have  a bearing  upon  the  development  of 
the  student.  When  Mr.  Thayer  sweeps  all 
such  matters  aside  as  of  secondary  interest 
and  importance, — when  he  expresses  the 
belief  that,  if  a man  has  it  in  him  to  be  an 
[ 7 ] 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


artist,  if  he  has  the  vision  to  see  beauty  in  na- 
ture, to  which  other  men  are  blind,  and  the 
desire  to  share  such  beauty  with  others,  he 
will  succeed  in  expressing  himself,  under  no 
matter  what  influences  or  conditions  he  may 
live, — he  expresses  his  deep  conviction. 

“The  artist  is  born \*  Mr.  Thayer  says, “as 
the  poet  is  born.  You  cannot  make  an  artist. 
To  the  artist  is  given  the  divine  gift  of  vision 
— of  seeing.  To  present  on  his  canvas  this 
vision  seen — this  form  of  beauty  conceived 
in  the  mind  of  the  artist — becomes  the  need 
of  the  painter.  But  the  vision  must  first  be 
seen,  and  the  conception  of  a piCfure  is  a 
God-given  gift.  No  amount  of  work  could 
possibly  make  the  vision,  and  no  amount  of 
work  could  possibly  make  an  artist/' 

Rarely  has  a great  painter  expressed  an 
opinion  upon  the  philosophy  of  art  with  more 
intimate  knowledge, or  described  with  more 
beautiful  imagery  the  spirit  of  the  artist  in 
his  indefatigable  search  after  Truth,  than 
did  Mr.  Thayer  when  he  continued : 

[ 8 ] 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


“It  is  as  though  a man  were  shown  a 
crystal,  a perfe6t  thing,  gleaming  below 
depths  of  water — far  down  beyond  reach. 
He  would  dive  and  dive  again,  driven  by 
his  great  desire  to  secure  it,  until  finally, 
all  dripping,  he  brought  it  up.  But  that  in 
the  end  he  could  bring  it,  a perfect  thing, 
to  us,  was  possible  solely  because  he  had 
first  seen  it  gleaming  there.  Others  might 
dive  and  dive,  might  work  and  labor  with 
endless  patience  and  endless  pain, but  unless 
they  had  first  seen  the  crystal, — unless  they 
had  been  given  this  divine  gift  of  seeing — 
this  vision — they  would  come  up  empty- 
handed  . The  occasional  so-called  geni  us  does 
not  make  the  crystal,  but  he  alone  sees  it, 
where  it  lies  gleaming  below  depths  of 
water,  and  by  his  effort  brings  it  to  us.  The 
whole  question  is  how  absolutely,  how  per- 
fe6fly,  the  artist  sees  this  vision. 

“After  the  artist  has  lived,  for  a certain 
period,  in  worship  of  some  particular  spe- 
cimen or  type  of  the  form  of  beauty  dearest 
[ 9 H 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


to  him,  this  crystal-like  vision  forms, clearer 
and  clearer,  at  the  bottom  of  his  mind,  which 
is, so  to  speak,  his  sea  of  consciousness,  until  at 
lastthe  vision  is  plainly  visible  tohim,and  the 
all-strain  and  danger-facing  time  has  come 
for  putting  it  into  the  form  in  which,  as  one 
of  the  world’s  treasures,  it  is  to  live  on.” 

That  the  artist  should  ever  be  able  to 
record  on  his  canvas  to  his  own  absolute 
satisfaction  the  vision  of  beauty  that  he  has 
seen,  Mr. Thayer  considers  improbable.  He 
says  he  may  have  moments  of  great  elation, 
that  by  some  most  favorable  circumstances 
— sometimes  by  putting  a canvas  away  for 
a time,  and  coming  suddenly  upon  it — an 
artist  may  be  thrillable  at  moments  by  his 
own  work ; but  that  in  the  end  he  has  usually 
to  be  satisfied  that  he  has  come  as  close  as 
he  has  to  the  vision  of  perfect  beauty  which 
he  sought  to  record. 

When  asked  whether  the  artist  has  ever 
been  granted  a vision  of  any  beauty  which 
is  not  based  upon  the  beauty  of  nature,  he 

[io] 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


exclaimed  emphatically, “No, no, no!  I don't 
see  the  slightest  material  for  any  such  con- 
ception 

And  when  the  question  was  further  put, — 
granted  that  the  artist  has  the  gift  of  seeing 
beauty  in  nature  to  which  others  are  blind, 
is  his  pidlure  Art  in  proportion  as  he  truth- 
fully records  the  beauty  of  the  nature  that  he 
sees?  Mr.  Thayer  answered/4  Yes.  Every- 
thing in  art,  in  poetry,  music,  sculpture, 
or  painting,  however  fantastic  it  looks  to 
people  who  are  not  far  enough  on  that  road, 
is  nothing  but  truth-telling,  true  reporting 
of  one  or  another  of  the  great  fa<5ts  of  nature 
—of  the  universe.  Music  has  emerged  from 
the  world's  noise  and  jangle  by  the  same 
law  of  intuitive  selection,  causing  the  origi- 
nal music-discoverer  to  begin  by  perceiving 
in  the  jangle  each  incidental  harmony.  Of 
course  in  architedture  shelter  for  mankind 
is  the  purpose,  though  the  resultant  struc- 
tures tell  these  truths." 

Touching  upon  thisquestion, Mr. Thayer 

C ^ H 


ABBOTT  H. THAYER 


puts  the  query : “ Do  naturalists  imagine  that 
the  arts  can  stand  as  they  do,  illuminating 
beacons  through  the  ages,  without  having 
adamantine,  crystal  truth  at  their  core?”1 

Mr.  Thayer  is  a man  of  slight  build  and 
of  a nervous  temperament,  with  a glance 
so  intense  and  clear  and  penetrating;  with 
a mind  so  keen  and  logical  and  which  a6ts 
with  such  precision  that  the  impression  re- 
ceived of  the  man's  personality  is  enduring. 
The  exactness  with  which  in  writing  he  uses 
words  is  but  an  indication  of  his  attitude 
toward  everything  he  undertakes.  There  is 
never  anything  accidental  about  what  he 
says  or  does.  He  is  a man  of  clear  vision  who 
believes  Truth,  whether  in  art  or  science,  to 
be  the  very  heart  of  the  matter.  And  his  gen- 
tle courtesy  and  quiet  charm  of  manner  are 
qualities  that  are  very  appealing. 

Born  in  Boston,  Massachusetts, on  August 

1 ‘‘  Concealing-Coloration,”  by  Abbott  H.  Thayer,  Popular  Sci- 
ence Monthly , July,  1911,  page  34. 

C 12  j 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


12,  1849,  Thayer  was  christened  Abbott 
Handerson:  Henderson,  not  Henderson,  as 
if,  Mr.  Thayer  says,  “some  ancestor  failed 
to  know  how  to  spell.  Anyway  it  has  come 
down  to  me  Han,”  he  adds. 

When  a young  lad, he  went  with  his  fam- 
ily to  live  at  Keene,  New  Hampshire,  the 
town  of  his  mother's  family,  the  Hander- 
sons.  There  among  the  New  Hampshire 
hills  his  boyhood  was  spent,  and  his  earliest 
associations  were  with  the  out-of-doors.  He 
did  not  grow  up  under  the  most  artistic  in- 
fluences, although  his  father  was  always 
very  much  interested  in  his  son's  wish  to  be 
a painter.  The  father,  Dr.  William  Henry 
Thayer,  had  not  been  encouraged  to  de- 
velop his  artistic  tendencies.  His  father, 
Abbott's  grandfather,  had  no  artistic  lean- 
ing, and  his  son  was  direfted  toward  an- 
other profession.  But  the  hunger  for  art 
which  Dr.  Thayer  had  had  when  a boy, 
and  which  in  him  had  been  suppressed  at 
home,  made  him  quick  to  sympathize  with 

[ 13  n 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


Abbott  in  his  interest  in  art.  Throughout 
the  boy's  youth  and  early  manhood,  he  had 
the  help  of  his  father's  encouragement  and 
approbation.  During  the  Civil  War,  when 
Dr.  Thayer  was  serving  as  Surgeon  with 
the  14th  New  Hampshire  Volunteers,  he 
kept  writing  home  about  Abbott  who  was 
then  twelve,  thinking  it  time  that  he  should 
have  instruction  in  some  art  class.  The  boy 
had  begun  to  paint  before  he  was  ten  years 
old,  and  it  would  be  interesting  now  to  see 
some  of  the  pictures  of  animals  or  birds 
which  he  did  at  that  time,  or  some  of  the 
dog-portraits  which  were  his  first  paid  com- 
missions. 

Upon  his  return  from  the  war  in  1864, 
when  Abbott  was  fifteen,  Dr.  Thayer,  find- 
ing his  praCtice  in  Keene  dissipated, moved 
with  his  family  first  toWoodstock, Vermont, 
where  he  leCtured  at  the  Vermont  Medical 
School,  and  later  to  Brooklyn,  where  he 
again  practiced  his  profession.  Abbott  re- 
ceived instruction  at  the  Academy  of  De- 
ll 14  ] 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


sign  in  Brooklyn,  and  at  the  National  Acad- 
emy of  Design  in  New  York.  In  186*9  we 
find  that  he  had  taken  a studio  in  Brooklyn, 
and  that  his  interest  was  almost  entirely 
centred  on  animal  painting.  He  was  so  in- 
terested in  painting  animals  at  that  time  that 
his  objeft  in  going  to  Europe  was,  as  Mr. 
Thayer  himself  says,  “to  study  with  lead- 
ing French  animal-painters,  such  as  Auguste 
Bonheur.” 

It  was  in  1 875,  that,  with  his  young  wife, 
he  went  to  Paris,  where  he  studied  at  the 
Ecole  des  Beaux-Arts  under  Gerome.  Dur- 
ing the  four  years  that  he  stayed  in  Paris, 
his  interest  in  portraying  the  human  coun- 
tenance became  greater  than  his  interest  in 
painting  animals.  We  have  a very  beauti- 
ful glimpse  of  those  early  years  and  an  im- 
pression of  young  Thayer's  relations  to 
the  other  students  of  the  Ouarter,  as  seen 
through  the  eyes  of  his  fellow-countryman 
and  fello  w-student, George  de  ForestBrush. 

“We  all  went  to  Paris  about  the  same 
[ 15  ] 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


time/'  Mr.  Brush  says.  “Everybody  was 
going.  And  I can  say  that  coming  into  that 
strange  life  of  the  Paris  Latin  Quarter,  I 
know  many  of  the  young  Americans,  along 
with  myself,  were  stunned  by  it.  It  seemed 
at  first  a great  shock.  As  it  was,  finding 
ourselves  in  a universe  that  would  be  bad 
anywhere — in  New  York  to-day — most  of 
the  young  students  easily  gave  in  to  the 
rather  low  point  of  view  of  the  community 
of  students  of  all  nations  that  formed  the 
Quarter.  And  Abbott  was  the  influence  that 
I know  must  have  held  many  a young  man 
up  to  an  ideal  of  condu6f . It  was  his  stand 
as  against  the  drift  of  the  Quarter,  that  en- 
deared him  to  many  of  us.  It  is  what  at- 
tra6fed  me  to  him."  This  would  seem  as 
fine  a thing  as  a man  could  say  of  his  friend. 

It  was  not,  as  Mr.  Brush  explained,  that 
life  in  the  Latin  Quarter  of  Paris  and  among 
art  students  differed  essentially  from  life  in 
other  classes  of  society  there  or  elsewhere, 
or  among  students  of  other  professions.  Un- 

C 16  ] 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


happily  there  is  almost  everywhere  the  same 
need  and  the  same  opportunity  of  taking 
a stand  for  an  ideal  of  conduct,  which  Mr. 
Thayer  took  when  confronted  with  the 
Paris  world. 

To  the  young  Mrs.  Thayer  Mr.  Brush 
pays  the  most  beautiful  tribute.  “She  was 
a woman  of  great  refinement/'  he  tells  us, 
“gentle  and  lovely.  Abbott  talked  and  talked 
against  the  drift  of  the  day, but  Mrs. Thayer 
was  an  influence  by  being  what  she  was, 
more  wonderful  than  anything  that  Abbott 
could  say." 

On  getting  back  to  America,  Mr.  Thayer 
began  the  New  York  studio  years,  which 
lasted  approximately  from  1879  to  1890. 
During  this  period  he  lived  with  his  family 
at  one  or  another  country-place  on  the  Hud- 
son River, — at  Cornwall,  or  Peekskill,  or 
Yonkers,  or  Scarboro, — coming  down  to 
his  studio  in  New  York  every  day.  He  went 
to  Dublin,  New  Hampshire,  at  first  only  for 
the  summers;  but  gradually  the  summer 

c 17  ] 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


cottage  at  Monadnock  came  to  be  the  per- 
manent home,  and  the  Thayers  have  now 
for  some  time  lived  there  the  year  round. 

Mr.  Thayer  has  many  friends  by  whom 
he  is  admired  and  loved,  and  his  influence 
among  them  is  very  great;  but  more  and 
more  as  the  years  go  by,  he  has  lived  apart, 
absorbed  in  his  art  and  in  his  study  of  nature. 
At  Dublin,  which  he  seldom  leaves,  his  life 
is  isolated,  and  he  spends  hours  at  a time 
alone  on  the  mountain,  or  in  his  canoe  on 
the  lake.  He  lives  solely  for  his  art,  with  the 
single  and  unvaried  thought  of  expressing 
his  own  ideals,  and  without  seeking  public 
applause  through  the  usual  channels  of  so- 
cial intercourse  and  official  relationship. 

Another  friend  of  many  years,  his  neigh- 
bor across  the  lake  at  Dublin,  George  Grey 
Barnard,  emphasizes  the  influence  that  this 
habit  of  thought,  of  solitary  contemplation, 
has  had  upon  Mr.  Thayer's  art,  which  is 
as  far  removed  as  possible  from  the  urge 
and  restless  striving  of  modern  thought. 

[ 18  ] 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


“ Abbott  Thayer  has  always  been  an  ideal- 
ist/' Mr.  Barnard  says,  “with  the  noblest 
qualities  of  mind  and  character,  and  his 
development  has  been  ever  upward,  still 
higher,  toward  more  lofty  thoughts  and 
ideals.  If  I were  to  choose  one  word  by 
which  to  describe  Abbott  Thayer,  it  would 
be  excelsior.  He  has  realized  by  his  living 
and  by  his  art  the  highest  spiritual  qualities." 

It  may  perhaps  not  be  amiss  to  speak 
here  of  the  rather  unusual  method  of  work- 
ing which  Mr.  Thayer  has  of  late  years  fol- 
lowed. It  is  a method  which  seems  soundly 
logical  as  a means  of  avoiding  the  painter's 
great  danger — that  of  losing  the  virtues  al- 
ready secured  in  an  attempt  to  carry  them 
further;  as  often  the  harder  he  tries  to  get 
back  to  the  point  at  which  he  had  secured 
some  merit  in  his  pifture,  the  farther  wrong 
he  goes. 

Mr.  Thayer  will  begin  a pifture,  and  as 
soon  as  he  feels  it  has  become  a valuable 
thing  he  will  get  an  assistant  to  make  him 

C 19  n 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


a copy  of  it.  On  this  he  goes  forward  again, 
lighted  by  the  measureless  comfort  of  the 
original’s  safety,  while  it  directs  his  hand- 
ling of  the  replica,  which  under  his  hand 
soon  outstrips  the  first.  He  will  then  take 
up  the  first  picture,  or  begin  a third.  The 
hindermost,  so  to  speak,  of  the  three  learns 
from  the  superiorities  of  the  others  which 
of  these  virtues  to  appropriate,  and  thereby 
become  the  best  of  all.  Thus  he  works  with 
the  assurance  that  he  cannot  lose  anything 
already  secured.  It  may  be  that  the  second 
picture  will  be  the  one  which  in  the  end  he 
will  feel  is  the  best,  or  it  may  be  the  third, 
or  the  first. 

It  is  interesting,  in  view  of  the  many 
pidlures  which  Mr.  Thayer  has  painted  of 
winged  figures,  to  know  of  the  deep  love  he 
has  had  for  the  sea  gulls.  His  intense  inter- 
est in  preserving  these  birds  and  the  help 
which  he  gave  toward  this  end  are  worthy 
of  note.  He  made  repeated  pleas  that  some 
effort  be  made  to  prevent  their  being  ex- 
[ 20  ] 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


terminated  by  egg  and  plumage  hunters 
along  our  Atlantic  coast,  and  by  his  eloquent 
appeals  helped  to  raise  funds  to  finance  the 
work  of  saving  the  gulls  and  other  birds 
whose  existence  was  endangered. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  speak  at  length 
of  Mr.  Thayer's  work  as  a naturalist.  That 
is  another  story,  and  yet,  that  a painter 
should  be  the  one  best  qualified  to  judge, 
and  to  speak  as  an  expert  of  the  science  of 
concealing-coloration  in  the  animal  king- 
dom, does  not  seem  strange.  “ The  laws  of 
color-correlation,"  Mr.  Thayer  points  out, 
“are  of  course  the  very  axis  of  the  art  of 
coloring,  and  any  intelledfual  painter  inev- 
itably is  the  scientist  of  all  that  is  knowable 
in  this  matter."1 

The  beginning  of  his  especial  interest  in 
the  problem  of  concealing-coloration  in  the 
animal  kingdom  was  the  sudden  realization 
that  there  was  in  the  inconspicuousness  of 

1 “ Concealing-Coloration,”  by  Abbott  H.  Thayer,  Pofiular  Sci- 
ence Monthly , July,  1911,  page  34. 

C 21  H 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


nearly  all  creatures  in  nature,  a set  of  cer- 
tain underlying  principles  of  which  no  hint 
was  to  be  found  in  any  books. 

What  Mr.  Thayer  has  tried  to  show  is 
why  animals  and  birds  are  invisible  when 
they  are.  He  has  never  claimed  that  they 
are  invisible  under  all  circumstances.  Mod- 
els demonstrating  his  theory  have  been  per- 
manently placed  in  the  Natural  History 
Museums  of  London,  Oxford,  and  Cam- 
bridge. 

The  researches  to  which  Mr.  Thayer  has 
devoted  so  much  time  and  thought  have 
come  into  sudden  popular  favor  in  the 
“camouflage”  of  the  World  War.  For  cam- 
ouflage, in  so  far  as  it  departs  from  the 
trickery  of  ambushing  and  disguise  which 
is  as  old  as  warfare,  is  for  the  most  part  the 
dire6t  outgrowth  of  Mr.  Thayer’s  elaborate 
and  minute  researches  in  the  fi  eld  of  natural 
protedlive  coloration.  In  a large  measure, 
it  is  based  very  definitely  upon  the  laws  of 
concealment  and  disguise  as  set  forth  in  the 

t 22  n 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


book,  “ Concealing-Coloration  in  the  Ani- 
mal Kingdom/'  written  by  Mr.  Thayer's 
son,  Gerald  H.  Thayer,  on  the  basis  of  his 
father's  work,  and  first  published  in  1909. 
This  book  was  well  known,  and  on  the 
whole  accepted,  by  the  scientists  of  the  old 
world  at  the  outset  of  the  war,  and  it  be- 
came the  basis  for  certain  radically  new 
departures  in  the  visual  trickery  of  the 
battlefield,  which  the  French  have  named 
“ camouflage."  Ample  and  precise  testi- 
mony on  these  points  has  been  vouchsafed 
Mr.  Thayer  by  eminent  European  scientists. 
Mr.  Thayer  himself  went  to  England  in  the 
autumn  of  1915  in  order  to  explain  certain 
points  concerning  war-concealment  more 
efiedtively.  The  American  Army  camou- 
flage,initiated  by  the  artist,  Barry  Faulkner, 
a cousin  of  Mr.  Thayer's,  was  at  first  based 
wholly  upon  Abbott  and  Gerald  Thayer's 
data  and  suggestions. 

H.  M.  B. 


C 23  J 


No.  1 Caritas 


CATALOgUS 


1 Caritas 

Lent  by  the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts 

2 Winged  Figure 

Dated  1889 

Lent  by  Smith  College 

3 Stevenson  Memorial 

Lent  by  Mr.  John  J.  Albright 

4 Bowl  of  Roses 

Lent  by  Worcester  Art  Museum 


5 Portrait  of  .a  Young  Girl 

Dated  June  20,  1917 

Lent  by  Worcester  Art  Museum 

6 The  Virgin 

Lent  by  Smithsonian  Institution  ( Freer  Collec- 
tion) 


7  Diana 

Lent  by  Smithsonian  Institution  ( Freer  Collec- 
tion) 


C 25  ] 


ABBOTT  H. THAYER 


8 Winged  Figure  seated  on  a Rock 

Inscription:  Mater  filiae  meae  tibi  hoc  monu- 
mentum.  Notation:  This  pi&ure  is  never  to 
be  retouched — not  one  Pin-Point.  Abbott  H. 
Thayer.  Monadnock , April , 1916 
Lent  by  Smithsonian  Institution  ( Freer  Collec- 
tion) 

9 Winged  Figure 

Dated  1911 

Lent  by  Smithsonian  Institution  (. Freer  Collec- 
tion) 

i o Portrait  of  the  Artist’s  Daughter 

Lent  by  Smithsonian  Institution  ( Freer  Collec- 
tion) 

1 1 Portrait  of  the  Artist’s  Son 

Dated  Aug.,  1892 

Inscription:  Gerald  Handerson  Thayer 
Lent  by  Smithsonian  Institution  ( Freer  Collec- 
tion) 

12  Capri 

Dated  1901 

Lent  by  Smithsonian  Institution  ( Freer  Collec- 
tion) 


[ 26  ] 


No.  6 The  Virgin 


CATALOGUE 


13  Sketch  of  Cornish  Headlands 

Lent  by  Smithsonian  Institution  ( Freer  Collec- 
tion) 

14  Winter  Dawn  on  Monadnock 

Dated  1918 

Lent  by  Smithsonian  Institution  ( Freer  Collec- 
tion) 

15  The  Angel 

Dated  1918 

Lent  by  Smithsonian  Institution  ( Freer  Collec- 
tion') 

16  Portrait  of  Alice  Freeman  Palmer 

Lent  by  Wellesley  College 

17  Portrait  of  a Girl  in  White 

Lent  by  Miss  Mary  A.  Greene 

18  Portrait  of  Miss  Anne  Palmer 

Dated  Paris,  1878 

Lent  by  Mr.  Charles  Lansing  Baldwin 

19  Ideal  Head 

Dated  1917 

Lent  by  Mr.  Charles  Lansing  Baldwin 

C 2 7 ] 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


20  Winged  Figure 

Dated  1912 

Lent  by  Mr.  John  F.  Braun 

21  Boy  and  Angel 

Lent  by  Mr.  Abbott  H.  Thayer 

22  Vineyard  Sound,  Nantucket 

Lent  by  Mr.  Abbott  H.  Thayer 
u My  temptation  to  show  all  I have  achieved  up 
to  date  has  made  me  send  this  4 Boy  and  Angel  ’ 
and  4 Vineyard  Sound  ’ while  I am  still  working 
on  them.”  ( Signed ) Abbott  H.  Thayer 

23  My  Children 

Notation:  Painted  by  me,  Abbott  H.  Thayer, 
about  1900.  Finished,  Dec.  1,  1910,  or  rather 
touched  again 

Owned  by  Carnegie  Institute 

24  Portrait  of  a Young  Girl 

Dated  1891 

Lent  by  Mr.  Walter  Hunnewell 

2 5 Portrait  of  Young  Woman 

Lent  by  Mr.  J.  Alden  Weir 


[ 28  J 


No.  17  Portrait  of  a Girl  in  White 


I 


CATALOGUE 


2 6 Study  in  White 

Dated  1906 

Lent  by  the  American  Committee  for  Devastated 
France 

27  Sketch  for  Angel 

Lent  by  Mr.  William  James 

28  Portrait  of  Joe  Evans 

Inscription  : For  Joe  Evans  from  A.  H.  Thayer 
Lent  by  Mr.  Charles  C.  Burlingham 

29  Crossing  the  Ferry 

Dated  1875 

Lent  by  Mr.  Charles  C.  Burlingham 

30  The  Donkey 

Dated  Paris,  1876 
Lent  by  Mrs.  W.  W.  Fenn 

31  Portrait  of  Susan  Linn  Sage 

Lent  by  Mr.  James  Fenimore  Cooper 

32  Portrait  of  Raphael  Pumpelly 

Lent  by  Mr.  H.  A.  Hammond  Smith 


i 29 : 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


33  Cloudy  Afternoon  on  the  Marsh 

Dated  1878 

Lent  by  Miss  Ellen  J.  Stone 

3 4 Portrait  of  Miss  Adeline  Cheney 

Lent  by  Mrs.  Adeline  Olcott 

35  Roses 

Lent  by  Miss  Louise  L.  Kane 

36  Woman’s  Head.  Sketch 

Lent  by  Miss  Mary  A.  Greene 

37  Little  Girl  in  White.  Sketch 

Lent  by  Miss  Mary  A.  Greene 

38  Sketch  of  Monadnock  Mountain 

Dated  1897 

Lent  by  Miss  Mary  A.  Greene 

39  Sketch  for  Lunette  in  the  Walker  Art 
Building,  Bowdoin  College,  Maine: 
“Florence  Protecting  the  Arts” 

Lent  by  Miss  Mary  A.  Greene 

40  Portrait 

Lent  by  Mrs.  E.  M.  Whiting 

C so  n 


No.  2 Winged  Figure 


CATALOGUE 


41  Portrait  of  a Child 

Inscription:  Begun  1903.  Abbott  H.  Thayer. 

Monadnock , 1905 

Lent  by  Mrs.  E.  M.  Whiting 

42  Autumn  Afternoon  in  the  Berkshires 

Dated  1879 

Lent  by  Mrs.  E.  M.  Whiting 

4 3 Study  of  a Tiger’s  Head 

Lent  by  Mr.  Vidor  G.  Bloede 

44  Water  Lilies 

Lent  by  Dr.  Henry  Taber 

45  Sketch  for  Angel 

Lent  by  Mr.  Abbott  H.  Thayer 

4 6 Winged  Figure 

Dated  1918 

Lent  by  Mr.  Abbott  H.  Thayer 

47  Lion  at  Rest 

Lent  by  Mrs.  Samuel  Bancroft , Jr. 

48  Portrait  of  Beatrice 

Lent  by  Mrs.  Hendrick  S.  Holden 

C 31  ] 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


49  Head 

Lent  by  Mrs.  Hendrick  S.  Holden 


50  Head  of  a Man 

Lent  by  Mr.  Abbott  H.  Thayer 


C 32  3 


No.  3 Stevenson  Memorial 


.) 


\ 


51 

A Qroup  of  Pictures  Illustrating 

PROTECTIVE  COLORATION 
IN  NATURE 

And  concerned  with  the  Origination  of 
Camouflage  in  War 

In  an  article  entitled  “The  Law  which  underlies 
Protective  Coloration,”  Mr.  Abbott  H.  Thayer 
says,  “It  is  the  law  of  gradation  in  the  coloring 
of  animals,  and  is  responsible  for  most  of  the  phe- 
nomena of  protective  coloration  except  those  prop- 
erly called  mimicry.” 

“Naturalists  have  long  recognized  the  fact 
that  the  coloring  of  many  animals  makes  them 
difficult  to  distinguish,  and  have  called  the  whole 
phenomenon  protective  coloration,  little  guess- 
ing how  wonderful  a fact  lay  hidden  under  the 
name.” 

Mimicry  makes  an  animal  appear  to  be  some 
other  thing,  whereas  this  newly  discovered  law 
makes  him  cease  to  appear  to  exist  at  all. 

“The  newly  discovered  law  may  be  stated 
thus : Animals  are  painted  by  nature  darkest  on 
those  parts  which  tend  to  be  most  lighted  by  the 
sky’s  light,  and  vice  versa”  (lightest  on  those 

C 33  D 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


parts  which  are  in  shadow),  with  the  result  that 
the 4 4 two  effects  cancel  each  other  ’ ’ when  the  ani- 
mals are  seen  under  the  light  of  the  sky,  so  that 
they  approach  something  like  invisibility.  To 
quote  from  a New  York  Tribune  review,  4 4 The 
point  is  extremely  difficult  to  set  forth  without  the 
aid  of  diagrams  and  other  examples,  but  we  may, 
perhaps,  clarify  it  a little  by  adding  that  while 
the  model  of  a bird  painted  green  all  over  and 
placed  against  a green  background,  would  be 
unqualifiedly  conspicuous,  the  countershading  of 
the  same  model  according  to  nature  would  cause 
it  to  melt  into  the  background.” 

Articles  and  Books  by  Abbott  H . Thayer 

Concealing- Coloration  in  the  Animal  Kingdom,  an 
Exposition  of  the  Laws  of  Disguise  through  Color  and 
Pattern;  Being  a Summary  of  Abbott  H.  Thayer’s  Dis- 
closures, by  Gerald  H.  Thayer,  with  an  introductory  essay 
by  A.  H.  Thayer 

The  Law  which  underlies  Protective  Coloration, 
by  Abbott  H.  Thayer,  in  The  Auk , April,  1896 

Further  Remarks  on  the  Law  which  underlies  Pro- 
tective Coloration,  by  Abbott  H.  Thayer,  in  The  Auk , 
October,  1896 

Protective  Coloration  in  its  Relation  to  Mimicry, 
Common  Warning  Colours,  and  Sexual  Selection,  by 

C 34  3 


CATALOGUE 


Abbott  H.  Thayer.  Communicated  by  Prof.  Edward  B. 
Poulton,  M.A.,D.Sc.,  F.R.S.(Read  October  21, 1903.) 
Published:  Transactions  of  the  Entomological  Society  of 
London,  December  24,  1903 

An  Arraignment  of  the  Theories  of  Mimicry  and 
Warning  Colors, by  Abbott  H.Tha)^er,in  Popular  Sci- 
ence Monthly , December,  1909 

Concealing- Coloration,  by  A.  H.  Thayer,  a letter  to 
The  Auk , printed  January,  1911 

Concealing- Coloration,  by  Abbott  H.  Thayer,  in  Pop- 
ular Science  Monthly , July,  1911 

Concealing- Coloration:  A Demand  for  Investigation 
of  my  Tests  of  the  Effacive  Power  of  Patterns,  by  Abbott 
H.  Thayer,  in  The  Auk , 06tober,  1911 

Camouflage,  by  Abbott  H.  Thayer,  in  The  Scientific 
Monthly , December,  1918 


C 35  ] 


%£CORD  OF  rPAINT IT(GS 
By  Abbott  H.  Thayer 

YOUNG  WOMAN.  Owned  by  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art 

WINTER  SUNRISE  ON  MONADNOCK.  Owned  by  Met- 
ropolitan Museum  of  Art 

DUBLIN  POND,  NEW  HAMPSHIRE.  Owned  by  Smith- 
sonian Institution  ( Evans  Collection) 

HEAD.  Owned  by  Smithsonian  Institution  {Freer  Collection) 

PORTRAIT  OF  A LADY.  Owned  by  Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion {Freer  Collection) 

MONADNOCK  NO.  2.  Owned  by  Smithsonian  Institution 
{Freer  Collection) 

MONADNOCK  MOUNTAIN  (Water-Color).  Owned  by 
Smithsonian  Institution  {Freer  Collection) 

HEBE.  Painted  about  1885.  Owned  by  Cleveland  Museum  of 
Art 

LUNETTE  IN  THE  WALKER  ART  BUILDING,  BOW- 
DOIN  COLLEGE,  MAINE,  “FLORENCE  PROTECT- 
ING THE  ARTS.”  Dated  1894.  Owned  by  Bowdoin  College 

PORTRAIT  OF  MISS  BESSIE  STILLMAN.  Owned  by 
Miss  Clara  F.  Stillman 

SISTERS.  Owned  by  Miss  Clara  F.  Stillman 

PORTRAIT  OF  HER  CHILD.  Owned  by  Mrs.  J.  Montgom- 
ery Sears 

PORTRAIT.  Painted  in  1902.  Owned  by  Mr.  John  J.  Albright 

C 37  J 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


PORTRAIT  OF  MISS  ANNE  PALMER.  Painted  about 
1883.  Owned  by  Mr.  E.  Nelson  Fell 

A BRIDE.  Painted  about  1895.  Owned  by  M.  Knoedler  and 
Company 

YOUNG  WOMAN  IN  OLIVE  PLUSH.  Owned  by  Mr. 
Abbott  H.  Thayer 

HEAD  (Drawing)  . Owned  by  Mr.  Abbott  H.  Thayer 

LANDSCAPE  (Water-Color).  Owned  by  Mr.  Abbott  H. 
Thayer 

SCENE  IN  FOREST  OF  FONTAINEBLEAU.  Owned  by 
Mrs.  Abbott  H.  Thayer 

WINTER  LANDSCAPE.  Owned  by  Mrs.  Abbott  H.  Thayer 

SKETCH  FOR  AN  ANGEL.  Owned  by  Mr.  Alexander  R. 
James 

PORTRAIT  HEAD.  Owned  by  Mrs.  Grenville  Clark 

LANDSCAPE  (Water-Color).  Owned  by  Mr.  Augustus 
Hem  en  way 

WINTER  LANDSCAPE.  Owned  by  Dr.  Joel  E.  Gold- 
thwait 

PORTRAIT  OF  MRS.  ATWATER.  Painted  in  1888.  Owned 
by  Mrs.  Louis  Lombard 

PORTRAIT  OF  A LADY.  Dated  1890.  Owned  by  Cincin- 
nati Art  Museum 

VIEW  ON  THE  SEINE.  Painted  about  1877.  Owned  by 
Mrs.  Laurence  Grose 

DONKEY.  Painted  about  1880.  Owned  by  Mrs.  Laurence 
Grose 


C 38  J 


RECORD  OF  PAINTINGS 


HEAD  OF  A GIRL.  Painted  about  1880.  Owned  by  Mrs. 
Laurence  Grose 

PLAYING  SICK.  Painted  before  1875.  Owned  by  Miss  Alice 
L.  Sand 

WHO  SAYS  RATS?  Painted  before  1875.  Owned  by.  Miss 
Alice  L.  Sand 

BOY  AND  DOG.  Painted  before  1875.  Owned  by  Mrs.  James 
Kingsley  Blake 

PORTRAIT  OF  MARY  DOW.  Owned  by  Mr.  Thomas 
Millie  Dow 

PORTRAIT  OF  ELSIE  PILCHER.  Owned  by  Mr.  Thomas 
Millie  Dow 

PORTRAIT  OF  MRS.  WILLIAM  F.  MILTON.  Painted 
in  1880.  Owned  by  Mrs.  William  F.  Milton 

PORTRAIT  OF  DR.  WILLIAM  HENRY  THAYER. 
Painted  about  1880.  Owned  by  Mr.  Richard  T.  Fisher 

COWS  COMING  FROM  PASTURE.  Dated  1875.  Owned 
by  Mrs.  H.  R.  Kunhardt 

COWS  COMING  THROUGH  THE  WOODS.  Dated  1879. 
Owned  by  Mrs.  H.  R.  Kunhardt 

HUNTER  WAITING  FOR  GAME.  Owned  by  Mr.  F.  A. 
Faulkner 

VIRGIN  ENTHRONED.  Owned  by  Mr.  John  Gellatly 

WINGED  FIGURE.  Owned  by  Mr.  John  Gellatly 

MY  CHILDREN.  Owned  by  Mr.  John  Gellatly 

MOTHER  AND  CHILD.  Dated  1885.  Owned  by  Mr.  John 
Gellatly 


C 39  ] 


ABBOTT  H.  THAYER 


BROTHER  AND  SISTER.  Dated  1889.  Owned  by  Mr.  John 
Gellatly 

PORTRAIT  OF  A LADY.  Owned  by  Mr.  John  Gellatly 

PORTRAIT  OF  A YOUNG  GIRL.  Owned  by  Mr.  John 
Gellatly 

PORTRAIT  OF  A MAN.  Dated  1915.  Owned  by  Mr.  John 
Gellatly 

PORTRAIT  SKETCH  OF  A YOUNG  BOY.  Owned  by 
Mr.  John  Gellatly 

ST.  IVES.  Dated  1898.  Owned  by  Mr.  John  Gellatly 

PORTRAIT  OF  “SHANDY.”  Dated  Dublin,  N.  H.,  1901. 
Owned  by  Dr.  E.  Channing  Stow  ell 

YOUNG  WOMAN.  Painted  in  1881  or  1882.  Owned  by  the 
Misses  Beach 

CATTLE.  Painted  before  1875.  Owned  by  Miss  Ellen  J.  Stone. 

HEAD  OF  A GIRL.  Owned  by  Miss  Ellen  J.  Stone 

CROSSING  THE  FERRY.  Dated  1875.  Owned  by  Miss 
Mary  A.  Brackett 

CROSSING  THE  FERRY.  Painted  about  1878.  Owned  by 
Mrs.  E.  M.  Whiting 

YOUNG  LION  IN  CENTRAL  PARK.  Painted  in  1870. 
Owned  by  Mrs.  E.  M.  Whiting 

PORTRAIT  OF  A PET  COLLIE.  Painted  in  1868.  Owned 
by  Mrs.  E.  M.  Whiting 

FAMILY  CAT  (Drawing).  Painted  in  1874.  Owned  by  Mrs. 
E.  M.  Whiting 

DUCK.  Painted  in  1866.  Owned  by  Mrs.  E.  M.  Whiting 

[ 40  ] 


RECORD  OF  PAINTINGS 


LANDSCAPE  WITH  COWS.  Painted  about  1885.  Owned 
by  Mrs.  F.  G.  Ireland 

PORTRAIT  OF  MISS  ELIZABETH  FRENCH.  Painted 
about  1882.  Owned  by  Lady  Cheylesmore 


■ ’f~rs~s 


IH~J9 


GETTY  CENTER  LIBRARY 


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